attack · recognise → explain → apply

Divert a shelter pawn with a checking sacrifice

A checking sacrifice can pull a pawn off a vital file or diagonal.

Explanation styleChoose any style. Age is not playing strength; no birth date is needed.

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Mikhail Botvinnik – Jose Raul Capablanca

AVRO, Rotterdam · 1938.11.22 · 1-0

30... Qxa3 · White to move

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What to notice at 30... Qxa3

Botvinnik’s 31.Nh5+ was met by ...gxh5; 32.Qg5+ used the opened g-file. The passed e-pawn and exposed knight on f6 also mattered.

A legally replayed historical example, not a claim that every move is best. A game’s result does not prove every defensive position was lost or drawn.

Game source ↗

Your thinking first

Name the signal, choose a plan, and test the opponent’s most challenging response.

What do you notice?What is your plan, and why?How could the opponent resist?

Recall and explain

1. A checking sacrifice can pull a pawn off a vital file or diagonal. How would you apply “divert a shelter pawn with a checking sacrifice”, and which defensive reply must you check?

Explain it in your own words before revealing.

Make it memorable

A check can move the wall.

Teach this to a friend in one minute. Then return to a different example and look for the same signal without being told its name.

Reflect and revisit

This is your self-assessment, not an engine grade or a promise of mastery.

Connect the ideas

Practise pawn transformations →

Sources and further reading

Original LumaChess teaching and game analysis. Topic references are credited below; no affiliation or endorsement is implied.